


Cocooned

by verybadhedgehog



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Spaceships, stranded on a planet, upsilon class shuttle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-15 22:52:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13623189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verybadhedgehog/pseuds/verybadhedgehog
Summary: An Upsilon class shuttle malfunctions and crash lands on an out of the way planet. Kylo Ren and General Hux must take shelter and await a rescue detail.for the prompt: Stranded somewhere not so fun, Kylo takes care of Hux's small wounds with a level of care that makes Hux feel ~uncomfortable~. In a good way.





	Cocooned

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> content notes: minor character injury and death, involving blood. Injuries to major characters are only minor cuts and grazes.

Kylo Ren had been happy to have General Hux travel in the same shuttle to and from the summit meeting. Hux, for his part, knew Ren preferred being able to keep an eye on him, and took Ren’s lack of trust as a backhanded compliment.

There was more activity in the pilot’s seats than would be considered normal mid way through a hyperspace jump. Hux craned his neck to see what was going on. The two pilots were speaking to one another in hushed, concerned tones. The second pilot appeared to be looking at sensor display screens.

“Kylo Ren, sir? We have some anomalies on sensor readouts.”

“Such as?”

“Curve analysis seems to indicate a nearby mass anomaly.”

“And other sensors?”

“Nothing is showing on active channels, sir.”

The ship made a very short shudder.

“What the _hell_ was that?”

Ren sat forward and shouted to his second pilot. “Mordack! Read out the curve analysis figures. Now.”

The man gave his answers.

The main pilot, Tavson, wrestled with the controls. “I don’t like this, sir.”

His judgement was sound. They were all thrown forward against their belts, and the streaking lines of hyperspace resolved into a star field. They had been punted. This was a highly unsatisfactory situation.

Furthermore, their exit from hyperspace was more sudden and jolting than it should have been. The warp vortex stabiliser did not seem to have kicked in properly.

“Where the hell are we? Give me chart locations. Nearby systems.”

The pilots checked a chart. “Nearest system is Dunfors,” Tavson announced.

“We could recalculate and jump again,” said Mordack.

“No. I don’t think so. Not yet. Not without assessing what happened.”

“Was the calculation normal?’ Hux asked.

“Entirely normal, sir.”

“Yet we did come close to a sizeable mass shadow and got punted. This leads me to the not unreasonable conclusion that there is a flaw.”

“The General echoes my thoughts,” Ren said.

“And the warp vortex stabiliser only activated to… sixty five percent,” Tavson said.

“That’s not good. Let me see.” Ren undid his belts and went to stand behind the pilots. “Do we have an indication of what kind of object caused the throw-out?”

“If the readings are correct, something about the size of a large battlecruiser, or an asteroid of comparable size,” Mordack said.

“A _battlecruiser_?” Hux was disbelieving. “One of our own?”

“Nobody else’s it could be. Nobody else has a fleet, any more. As far as we know.”

“As far as we know? Hmm. True, I think an unknown civilisation with an advanced navy tootling around the hyperspace lanes is rather unlikely.”

“Did you pick up any identifying signals?”

“Let me check.” Mordack clicked and poked at his consoles. “The _Resplendent_ was in the vicinity. Long-range scan doesn’t show anything else.”

“Our ships would have come up in the calculations, surely,” Tavson said.

“Quite,” said Hux. “That’s part of my point. The navicomputer is making flawed calculations.”

“Any large asteroids nearby?”

“Free floaters? It’s possible.”

“Well, look. I’m not happy making another jump until we can get the navicomputer looked at, and the stabiliser circuit.”

Tavson looked behind him. “Sir?”

“I already told you I concur with General Hux. What’s down there on Dunfors? Are they friendly? Obedient?”

“I don’t believe it to be a highly sophisticated planet,” Hux said. “But if needs must.”

“There’s a grade two military spaceport and barracks, and a smaller civilian spaceport, sirs.”

“Oh, alright. Who’s in charge down there?”

“Colonel Relland. Ashtine Relland.”

“Don’t know her,” Ren said. He turned to Hux. “You?”

“I know the name. Never heard anything out of the ordinary about her or this post. Well then. Let’s get in touch. She can get ready rolling out the red carpet.”

Ren nodded his assent and Mordack placed the call.

Colonel Relland was of course highly honoured to be receiving the Supreme Leader and General Hux for a short visit. She would have the navicomputer and warp stabiliser serviced by the most skilled technicians at once. The party would soon be able to be on their way back to the Finalizer.  They were making the best of a bad situation.

The ship coasted down through atmosphere. Hux was looking forward to making the acquaintance of the team in charge of the Dunfors installation. He would take time to inspect the troops there. Perhaps Kylo would like to join him. It would be good practice for him to take on more of the ceremonial side of things. If the people now had a Supreme Leader who didn’t spend the whole time shut away in his throne room, then the people ought to be able to see some kind of benefit from that. Kylo ought to get out there and make the effort. And if he wouldn’t, then Hux would.

The ship took another jolt.

“Tavson!”

Mordack scrabbled for the controls.

“Shit!”

Tavson’s head was lolling unnaturally. Kylo leapt out of his seat again and dashed for the consoles, leaning over Tavson’s position and grabbing his set of controls.

“Keep it with me,” he said. “We’ve got to keep her on a level.” Both Ren and Mordack had the controls under their hands, and they were attempting to fly the shuttle in tandem.

“Sir. I’m going to lower the wings.”

“Do it, but be quick.”

Hux could hear the wing mechanism ratcheting down.

“Balance the thrusters with me, Mordack. Just watch what I’m doing and we’ll keep it steady.”

“Yes sir. We’re losing more altitude than I’d like.”

“We can land in one piece if we stay clever,” Ren said. “Hux? I strongly suggest you brace.”

He did.

They hit the planet’s surface at a speed considerably higher than any pilots training manual would have advised.

The point of impact was on a rocky incline, and the shuttle hit it going downhill, slewing and lurching wildly across the ground, hitting rock outcrops as it went. A large piece of scenery smashed into the front viewport. Kylo ducked and used the Force to deflect the shards of transparisteel that shattered from the impact. Hux folded himself into a ball, with his arms shielding his head. 

Mordack was not so quick or so lucky, it turned out. When the shuttle reached a stop, Hux undid his belts and stood, dazed, from his seat. He stumbled to the pilots’ seats, too shocked to even utter the words ringing in his ears — _what the hell happened_. He tried to take in what his eyes were showing him: Ren, wide eyed, a hand still held out in a defensive position; and Mordack, bleeding in torrents from the neck, which was almost severed by a large triangular shard of transparisteel.

“He’s dead,” Hux said. “He’s _dead_.” He looked to Ren with alarm. “And Tavson?”

“Unconscious. I can look for a pulse.” Ren pulled off a glove and pressed two fingers to Tavson’s neck. “I’m not getting anything. Hux. Get the med pac from under the rear bench. There’s a porta-scan in there.”

Hux fetched the med pac. Both the pilots. _Both the pilots._ He opened the pac and with shaky hands fired up the porta-scan device.

“I’ll do it,” Ren said, holding out a hand. Hux passed him the device. Ren held it to the pilot’s throat. He shook his head. “He’s dead, too. They were good pilots. Both of them.”

“What? What the fuck happened? This has to be sabotage. The navicomputer. Your pilot. And the shields, too — that rock shouldn’t have hit the viewport.”

“I agree,” Ren said, grimly. He turned and looked at Hux again, this time with perceptible concern. “You don’t look good yourself. Are you injured?”

“Don’t know,” Hux said, then internally chastised himself for being so pathetic. “I have some pain in my arm,” he said.

“Okay. You sit down on the bench. We’re on a bit of a tilt but it’s not too bad. I’ll take a look at you.”

Ren carried the med pac and sat down next to Hux. He brushed shards of glass from his clothes, not only with the back of his hands but with his strange Force powers. It was odd to watch Ren’s powers being used for something so delicate and small scale. He then pulled back his own sleeve, and attended to a cut on his arm, applying a tape suture.

“Your turn now,” he said. “Let me see where you’ve taken damage.”

“Should I take my coat off?”

“Not yet. Let me see if you have anything perforating it.” He carefully examined Hux’s left arm, then his back, his shoulders, his right arm. “There’s a piece of something here. Does it hurt, on your right forearm?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’m going to take this piece out, and when I do, I then I want you to quickly take your arm out of this sleeve, and then apply pressure to the wound. Then we’ll take it from there.”

Ren focused his power on the wound, and Hux felt a sharp slice of pain, and something sliding out. 

“Now take your coat sleeve off and press hard.”

Hux did as instructed.

“Can I cut through your jacket sleeve? It’s already ruined.”

“Alright, if you must.”

Kylo took off his gloves to investigate the wound. The touch of his fingers on Hux’s skin was oddly soft. He was calm and professional, almost like a ship’s doctor. He cleaned the wound, administered a small dollop of Bacta+ and applied a short strip of tape suture, followed by a pad.

“Hold on to that while I put a bandage around it,” he said. 

Hux pressed mutely with a finger, while Kylo wound a bandage around his arm. Kylo was still so calm and neat and efficient, not at all the way Hux was used to seeing him. The contrast was slightly disturbing. Who was this Ren, and why was he?

“There,” Kylo said. “That didn’t go too far in, so it won’t have done you much harm.”

He seemed to care about Hux’s comfort. More so than a ship’s doctor, or an academy matron, or anyone like that. 

“Okay, let’s see your face.”

Hux gave him a weak glare.

“There’s a cut and a graze on there from where you fell. I can clean that up and give you a dab of bacta.”

“You don’t need to do this.”

“You need your wounds taken care of.”

“I don’t need a fuss.” 

“It isn’t a fuss. Now look up that way, so I can see.”

Ren tilted Hux’s chin.

Hux heard a packet being torn open, and smelled the harsh smell of a disinfecting wipe. He braced himself, but still hissed at the sting as Ren dabbed at his cuts and grazes. 

“I’ll be done in a few seconds,” Ren said. “There.” He carefully applied a thin layer of bacta ointment, cool and immediately soothing. “A gauze strip, and we’re finished.”

“Thank you, Ren,” Hux said, feeling strangely weakened. “I could have done this myself.”

“It’s alright. I’m used to doing it.”

“I never would have imagined you being adept at field medicine.”

“I have to be. The Knights, you know. We have to be able to look after each other.”

“I see.”

The Knights of Ren had a bond of some sort, that much was clear. Perhaps this was why Kylo was being so abnormally, disturbingly gentle. It was not, though, that Hux preferred Kylo when he was indifferent, carelessly unkind, hateful or violent. It was simply that he didn’t know what to do with this version of him. 

Hux pulled himself together. It was far better to be focused on the here and now, and stop pondering about Kylo and his behaviour.

“Which systems are still functional? We need to start regrouping.”

“We’ll check. I think I’ll get these bodies out of the way first.”

“Okay. What happened to Tavson?”

“He appeared to lose consciousness at the controls. Don’t know what caused it. Didn’t look like a seizure. Sudden cardiac arrest?”

Hux frowned and shook his head “Navicomputer faulty. Vortex stabiliser not coming online properly. Lead pilot drops down dead at the controls. Viewport shouldn’t have failed, either. Someone did this, Ren.”

“If you weren’t on this shuttle, I know who I’d suspect.”

“That isn’t funny.”

“I know,” Ren said. He sighed. “Sorry. You haven’t been trying to kill me and you deserve credit for that.”

“And I wouldn’t, not now. We’re in an unknown environment and”— 

—“We’ll be a team, while we’re here. Alright?”

“Yes. We’ll be a team. Thank you.”

Ren hauled Tavson’s body out of his seat. He stopped as he was about to unbuckle poor Mordack.

“Fuck, there’s blood everywhere.”

“Leave him there, then, no point making even more of a mess.” Hux thought for a moment. “Should we at least take tissue samples from Tavson for toxicology?”

“I don’t think we’ve got the kit.” Ren checked through the med pac again. “I can take one blood sample.”

“Don’t those have to be kept cool and inert?”

Ren sighed. “Forget it, then.”

Hux reached over Mordack’s body and grabbed a comm headset. The system was on line, but was only picking up a weak signal. He tried calling the Dunfors base back, but the connection wouldn’t go through.

“Very weak comm signal, Ren.”

“You only just spoke to them. This isn’t good.”

“Right. It’s almost if it was being jammed. Do you think our sensor jammers are interfering with our own communications?”

“Could be.” He adjusted some settings. “Hmm. I’ve set them to off, but I don't believe they actually are. And look at these figures on the shield generation readout. I don’t think any of the systems on that wing are right.”

Hux looked. “No, I don’t like that at all. From the crash, or sabotage?”

“No way of knowing.”

“You can’t sense anything with your powers?”

Ren sighed. “That’s not quite how it works.”

“Oh, okay.” Hux really didn’t want to get into a discussion of how the Force did or didn’t work. “Well, normally we’d stay with the ship and comm for help, but that’s off the cards.”

“It seems so.”

“And besides, I’m not too keen on staying here with so much already broken. If we get an engine leak, and the internal shielding is playing up, I wouldn’t like to think of the consequences.”

“No. I agree.”

“What’s the terrain like?”

Ren pointed out of the broken viewport. “Like that.”

Hux rolled his eyes. “Yes, thank you.” He looked out. Rough rocky ground gave way to vegetation — bushes and small trees. It didn’t look too difficult to traverse. “How far are we from the local base?”

“About 200km. Nearest settlement is about 40km.”

“I’d rather not get involved with the civilian population.”

“No, me neither. So,” Ren said, suddenly decisive, “this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to unhook the portable comm module, and we’re going to walk in the direction of the strongest signal. Then we’re going to comm the local base and get the officer in charge to send out a team to pick us up. Then we’re going to get the shuttle uplifted onto one of our ships.”

“I want it taken onto the Finalizer. I trust my own crew. There will be a full investigation carried out and I will catch the little traitor who did this.”

Ren nodded. “Get yourself ready then, because I’m not hanging about.”

“There’s a protocol for this. Emergency rations and all that.”

“Storage locker at the back. Should be kit in there.”

“Thank you.”

Hux inspected the kit. There were boxes of emergency rations and four light backpacks, containing (he checked) a compressed waterproof cocoon, an insulating microblanket, water purification kit and equipment for low tech signalling. Same type of kit that the Troopers were issued with, except that the packs were grey rather than white. He barely remembered signing off on the request to have these emergency bags provided. There was a planet-side safety and survival course that the pilots would have been on. Hux hadn’t even bothered doing the half day condensed version. But here he was. 

He piled a few ration boxes into a pack. Kylo came back from the cockpit with the shuttle’s portable comm module and the med kit. They each fitted into one of the packs. Hux hoisted one, with a wince, onto his shoulders, and Kylo took the other. He fastened his cloak on top, giving him a hunch backed appearance. 

“That’s it, then,” Hux said.

Ren pulled on a switch to open the rear hatch. The air was cool. Hux folded the flaps of his command cap down over his ears, and so they set off. 

Hux had the headset of the portable comm module wedged into his coat pocket, and from time to time took it out to check signal strength. He looked back at the shuttle, too. Thousands upon thousands of credits worth of state of the art technology, crashed and ruined. Sabotaged, he was sure. A deliberate assassination attempt not only against the Supreme Leader, but against Hux himself. Someone was going to wish they had never been born.

They marched on. The ground was uneven, and Hux suspected that his boots were less well suited to the terrain than Ren’s. Ren’s hair and cloak were blowing in the wind, and in some way he appeared to be in his element.

Hux’s arm was still a little sore. Ren had done a very good job of patching him up. There had been something surreal about it that wasn’t just the awful situation, the two dead pilots, the upheaval of the crash. Hux started pondering on just what it was that had made him feel odd. He simply wasn’t used to having a fuss made. And Ren had made a fuss. Hux had tried to brush him off, of course, without creating an even bigger fuss.

It was better to be cool and distant about these things, as it didn’t do to indulge childish nonsense. That’s how it had always been, and it really was for the best. This was a war, and war wasn’t an environment for mollycoddling. Everyone knew it. Instructors, academy matrons and their droids, navy doctors. Businesslike and detached. Kylo Ren had so nearly got it right, but he’d just overstepped the mark somehow, with his “there,” and his “nearly finished,” and his gentle, careful touches.

Walking and fresh air was making him think. He ought to channel his thoughts productively, or try harder to squash them down.

He looked behind him again. The shuttle was out of sight now. He put on a little burst of pace to keep up with Ren.

He and Ren had recently been… not exactly getting on well, but getting on a little better. They had been able to discuss issues in a more or less productive manner, with what he considered a normal amount of backbiting and sniping. Hux had made a decision to bide his time, with respect to his ultimate goal. It seemed as though at least one of his rivals had made a very different decision.

“Keeping up alright?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not going too fast for you? I forgot that you were unused to this sort of situation.”

“I’m fine.”

“Do you have a signal on the comm unit?”

Hux checked. “Not brilliant, but improved. I’ll try to place a call.”

“We need to find shelter before sundown in any case.”

“Shelter. Right.”

“See those overhanging rocks?” Ren was pointing towards a series of rocky ledges further up on the hill. An overhang provided shelter from rain. 

“Yes.”

“Well? That’s where I suggest we make our call, and spend the night.”

“Oh, good.”

They clambered up towards the rocks. Hux’s pace was slowed by frequent stops to disentangle his coat from thorn bushes.

“Cocoon and micro blanket will keep the weather out. But we should make an extra windbreak, here.”

“With what?”

“The available resources. Don’t your people do initiative?”

“I beg your pardon? My people?”

“I recall you using the phrase ‘my armies’ more than once.”

“And this is hardly the time and place for you to start finding fault. Our soldiers know perfectly well what they’re doing.”

“Good. And do _you_?”

Hux gasped at the insult. “How dare you!”

“Oh, shut up. And sit down. I’m going to collect some wood.”

Hux did not sit down, instead choosing to stand, arms by his sides, and seethe silently into the scenery.

He jumped a little at the sound of Ren’s lightsaber igniting, and lurched forward to see Ren cutting down branches from a large dark green bush.

Ren dragged the branches back, and Hux wondered if it would have at least been polite to have offered to help. Instead, he watched Ren weave the branches into a very primitive sort of lattice, propped up against the rocks.

“And now some dry stuff for a fire,” he said.

Hux tried to raise the Dunfors base, while Ren turned some dry twigs and wood bits into a fire. After having the signal drop after ten seconds on three separate attempts, he gave up.

“I can just about get through, but it won’t hold a connection. The equipment is sound, and the shuttle’s signal jammers shouldn’t be affecting us at this distance.”

“Atmospheric conditions?”

“I suppose. Does this planet get gas storms?”

Ren shrugged “Could be something low altitude, hazing the signal out. Local population could have a signal jammer.”

“I bloody doubt it. What kind of patrols would our people be doing? A firm hand is a firm hand.” He put the unit into his backpack. “I’ll try again at sunrise.”

Ren passed him a box of rations. He unwrapped a protein stick and nibbled.

“You want tea?” Ren asked.

“It won’t be nice tea, but yes.”

“It’ll be instant ration tea because that’s what we’ve got.” 

“I’ll make it,” Hux said. “Give me the water bottle.” He poured water into the metal pan provided with the ration boxes, and balanced it at the edge of the fire. When it approached boiling, he tore open two tea sachets and tipped them in.

“Two sachets?”

“I want it to taste of something.” 

Ren pulled a face.

“Not to the Supreme Leader’s liking?”

“I’ll want sugar in it if you’re making it strong.”

Here they were, reduced to arguing about sugar in tea, when only a few hours before they’d been shaking hands with planetary leaders and accepting pledges of allegiance and obeisance.

“Alright. I’ll put yours in the lid of your water canteen and you can have as much sugar as you like.”

“Are you just going to eat protein sticks or are you going to have any proper food.”

“What the hell business is it of yours?”

“You need your sustenance, Hux.”

“Alright! Stop fussing. I shall have some nutripaste. Give me a self heating one.”

Hux poured Ren his tea and let his own cool down a little so as not to burn his mouth. The tea could be considered adequate, in the circumstances, but he did look forward to a good cup of Tarine Black as soon as they got themselves off this mean little planet.

“You’ve coped well,” Ren said.

“What do you mean, coped?”

“With the situation. The crash. There was a lot of blood.”

Hux let out a hollow laugh. “Seen a lot of blood before.”

“Your simulations?”

“Not in simulations. It’s a dog eat dog world.”

“You really are as vicious as Snoke always said.”

“Sometimes needs must.”

“Are you going to slit _my_ throat?”

“No.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Ren pulled off his glove and tested the temperature of his self-heating nutripaste sachet with the back of his hand. “You could take your knife off though.”

Hux sighed. “I’m not letting you have it.”

“Put it in your bag. Or in your boot, when you take your boots off.”

“Alright, fine, I’ll do that.”

They both tore open their nutripaste sachets and squeezed the hot savoury paste into their mouths. It, too, was perfectly adequate for the situation.

“It’ll get cold soon.”

“We’ve got the fire.”

“I suppose we should get in these cocoon bags.”

“Indeed,” Ren said. He pulled both bags out of the backpacks, and began clip-locking them together.

“What are you doing?”

“We’ll stay warmer if we double up.”

“Double up?”

“We’ll be sharing warmth. It’s standard practice.”

“Is it.”

“Yes.”

Ren leant into the open mouth of the now twinned cocoon.

“What are you doing now?”

“Inflating the bottom section. For comfort. There’s an inflation valve half way up your side too, if you want to help.”

The situation was exceptionally surreal, but at least there were no witnesses. He found the inflation valve, opened it, lowered his head and started blowing into it. Needs, he supposed, must.

Ren finished before he did, unsurprisingly. “It doesn’t need to be too inflated,” he said. Hux supposed he’d done enough, and sealed off the valve.

“Go on, get in.”

“Boots off, I suppose?”

Ren gave him a look, and he sat and pulled at his boots. 

“Here, let me,” Ren said, grabbing his ankle and smoothly tugging off the boot.

“I'm perfectly capable!”

He got in. The plasticised fabric of the cocoon crinkled around him. The inflated section of the cocoon made a meagre mattress, but it was better than the bare rock.

Ren got in. The fabric crinkled and crackled again as he settled himself.

The sun was getting very low in the sky and setting the clouds on fire. The air was growing chill.  Hux was sitting in a cave that wasn’t even a proper cave, inside a plastic bag, with Kylo Ren. It was, however, warm enough, with a micro insulating blanket around his head and shoulders.

“Take the knife off your wrist. Don’t think I’ve forgotten. And your blaster.”

“Oh alright.” Hux unbuckled his wrist sheath and dropped it into his boot, followed by his blaster. “There. As good as my word. You keep your lightsaber, though. That’s seemingly not a problem.”

“I wouldn’t need it if I wanted to get rid of you.”

“Well isn’t _that_ reassuring.”

“I don’t want to get rid of you. You’d only be replaced with someone even worse. And I've got used to you.”

“Hell’s bells, what a glowing endorsement.”

Ren rustled about in his pack. “Do you want another biscuit?”

“No, thank you.”

Ren tore open the packet of biscuits and ate them. Hux wondered if he were in the habit of eating biscuits in bed. Who saw this side of him? Only his Knights, Hux supposed.

Biscuits finished, Ren turned to him. “How’s your wound holding up? Not bleeding?”

“It seems okay. Thank you for looking after me.”

“That’s okay.” Ren looked right at him, with that unnerving and penetrating intensity of his. “You seem troubled.”

“Just not used to it, that’s all.”

“Used to the blood and the loss of life, but not, what? Me patching up your cuts?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Alright. But maybe you should, at some point. There’s something very unresolved about you.”

“I don’t even want to know what you mean by that. I have tremendous resolve.”

“That’s not… it doesn’t matter right now.”

“I suppose we should attempt some sleep.”

They lay down, sharing Ren’s cloak rolled up as a pillow.

Hux lay on his side, but Ren lay flat on his back. His breathing grew deeper and soon, Hux figured he must be asleep. No such luck for Hux, at least not yet.

He thought of his blaster and his knife, but he found he didn’t want to use them. What an odd little piece of theatre that had been, he thought, Ren getting him to put his weapons in his boot for safe keeping. Then he considered how possible it would actually be to half clamber out of the cocoon, grab a weapon and be ready to use it without waking Ren. And in any case he didn’t really want to use them. He had already decided that he was going to present a united front with the Supreme Leader in the matter of the attempt at assassination by sabotage. Someone had tried to kill both of them, then that someone was going to have to deal with both of them at once. They would stand firm together.

Ren’s breathing was deep and calming to listen to. And he had been correct — it was warmer inside the doubled up cocoon than it would have been if Hux were on his own. And it was just for one night.

He hadn’t been expecting to see this side of Kylo Ren when they set off for the summit meeting. But he was a decent travel companion, and he had been so gentle and considerate. 

“Nobody is considerate,” he whispered. “Why did _you_ have to be?”

He felt a terrible sadness then, deep inside him, like a punch to the stomach. He was close to remembering things he didn’t want to remember. Best to follow Ren’s example, and get some sleep.

He woke part way through the night, sore from lying on one side. He turned over. Ren followed, and tucked an arm over him. He must be asleep. The embrace was warm though, and Hux allowed it. So long as Ren didn’t start breathing on his neck he would be fine.

He dreamt a little, of the wind whipping over a sea cliff, and waves crashing on rocks, and a fixed sensation that he couldn’t stay where he was. He thought he would go back home and rest, but he couldn’t find where to go.

He woke again, folded more fully into Ren’s arms. He was more comfortable than he had been before. He wouldn’t mention this bit in the debriefing. It would be enough to say that they had spend the night in an emergency shelter. Ren hugged him closer. He must be asleep and dreaming of some childish foolishness. 

Then came the kiss, soft and sleepy and loose on his forehead. And another. And a hand soft and warm on his back.

He tilted his head up a little. There was a little glow from the embers of the fire, and a little starlight coming through in patches between the clouds, but it was hard to see much.

“Are you asleep?” he whispered.

“No.”

“Neither am I.”

He pressed himself closer to Ren, and tried to find his mouth, grazing first his chin then his cheek with his lips, and then, finally, a proper kiss. 

“Hux.”

He kissed him again, soft and sweet and so good. 

“Your nose is cold.”

“Sorry.”

There was a hand stroking his back and another touching his cheek.

“Is this alright?”

“Yes.”

The plasticised fabric crinkled as he put his arm around Ren. His body was big and strong and warm and it felt good and easy and temporarily right. They wouldn’t be mentioning _any_ of this in the debriefing.

“What are we doing?”

“I don’t know. But it’s okay.”

“You were so good to me. Why were you so good to me?”

“I wanted to be.”

“Why? I don't need this. This…”

“Shhh.”

Ren soothed him with circles on his back and it was okay. This childish nonsense, this fuss.

“I hurt you before. I’m sorry.”

“It’s… don’t talk about that.”

“I won’t.”

Hux held onto him tighter. He didn’t want to talk about anything. Just to be held.

“There,” Ren said. “There.” And he kissed him again, softly, so softly. Hux kissed him back, a little less softly as time went on.

“Do you want to do anything else?” Ren whispered against his lips.

“Not sure. I might do, but I like this. Just being close.”

“That’s okay.”

Hux nestled across Ren’s shoulder, with a handful of microblanket in his fist, and fell asleep.

Sunrise came.

Hux sat up. Ren was starting to stir, too.

“I suppose I’d best try to contact the base again.”

He dragged the comm unit out of his pack, and set it up. This time, he got a strong enough signal, and the connection held. 

He had the distinct impression that the officer he spoke to didn’t believe him at first. _Yes_ , this is First Order shuttle UV-11. _Yes_ this is General Hux speaking. The officer put him on hold for a few seconds, and came back very apologetic and shaken. Yes sir. Of course sir. We will send a recovery squad straight away. 

He gave the coordinates, and was informed that rendezvous would be in two hours.

“Two hours? Where are you coming from, the far end of Felucia?”

“That’s the best we can do.”

“This is the way you treat your General and your Supreme Leader?”

“The Supreme Leader is with you?”

“Yes! Did you not catch that part?”

“Yes sir! We will, erm, take all steps to expedite your extraction, sirs. Long live the First order and the Supreme Leader!”

“Fine. Just repeat the coordinates back to me so I know you have them right.”

The officer did as he was told, and Hux was relieved that he did have the correct location. 

“I’m not sure we’re dealing with the very creme de la creme of First Order youth here,” he muttered.

At that point, the officer in charge of the base came on line. Hux was relieved to speak to her again, as she seemed competent.

“When your shuttle did not show up, sir, we started scanning the region for crash sites.”

“I can tell you exactly where to go.” He gave her the coordinates of the shuttle crash. “There are two fatalities, bodies still confined on the shuttle. Lieutenant Jober Tavson and Lieutenant Desin Mordack. I don’t wish to rule out foul play in the case of Tavson, who lost consciousness at the controls.”

“Very unfortunate, sir. I will bear that in mind.”

“I want you to contact the Finalizer, and make Captain Peavey aware of the situation. I want the crashed shuttle uplifted onto the Finalizer, for further investigation.”

“Yes, sir. Our priority will be to extract you and the Supreme Leader, and bring you to base.”

“Thank you, Colonel. Tell me, are you aware of any movements or changes or rumours surrounding the Supreme Leader’s whereabouts, or my own?”

“No, sir.”

“Good. I look forward to meeting some of your troops in approximately two hours.”

“And we look forward to receiving you on base, sir. Hail and long live the Supreme Leader.”

Hux nudged Ren. “Ren, she says hail and long live.”

“Oh. Let the First Order flourish,” Ren said.

“Let the First Order flourish,” Colonel Relland repeated.

“Alright,” said Hux. “Communication over,” and he terminated the call.  He looked over at Ren. “And now we wait.”

“ETA?”

“Two hours.”

“Plenty of time,” Ren said, and pulled Hux back into the warm emergency cocoon, dragging him right on top of him.


End file.
